


When The School goes Mad for an Outcast

by gaymien66



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Hattercrow - Freeform, Highschool AU, M/M, slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-04 09:34:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20468855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaymien66/pseuds/gaymien66
Summary: Jonathan notices something especially strange at school today-- The entire school is gushing about some man he's never met, 'Jervis Tetch', and the only other person he can find who is unaffected by all this was Oswald Cobblepot, brooding over the lost of his friend Ed.





	When The School goes Mad for an Outcast

Jonathan had never been the most popular boy in school; Actually, he was quite the opposite. Generic bullied kid, messy hair, dirty clothes, too quiet, making others uncomfortable just by being there-- So, the outcast was victim to quite a lot of bullying, physical or not, during school. That’s one reason he barely makes it to school; The other was to help his father the best he could with his work, as… morbid as it was. So, he didn’t make it to school very often, only really coming in for science lessons, and the occasional art lesson where he finds himself cooped up in the corner and drawing things which get discarded by the teacher for being ‘too graphic’ …

All this added up to the fact he wasn’t in school yesterday, and as he made the hour-long walk from his home farm to Gotham High, something felt horrible off about today. The paranoia was certainly creeping up on him-- The shadows jumped around him, curving from the alleys that lined the dingy streets of gotham. He clutched onto the strap of his stitched-together bag, sighing to close his eyes in frustration to the noise in the empty street. It’s fine. Today will be fine. The paranoia was just that; Paranoia. He’ll just make sure not to set anyone off today.

The first thing he noticed when he stepped into the school building was that the students looked oddly more happy than usual; Most of them speaking about one person in particular: Jervis Tetch. He wasn’t entirely sure who the boy was altogether, but his praises were being sung around the school quite frankly...non stop. But at least everyone was preoccupied with that, that they didn't even notice he was there.

Weird.

His morning continued relatively the same, people gushing over Jervis and all that, someone he hasn't even seen yet, and he headed to his next class. Art. Something he at least enjoyed; Art let him vent out his feelings without actually talking. He wasn't good at talking, but at least he could draw it out. It felt, almost, like the only way he could put his emotions forward. Showing emotion was weak, he knows this. His father scolds him for him- Wants to cure it, and other kids at school mock him for it. The teacher was easily dismissive and let the teenagers chatter among themselves, a few actually drawing, but most of them were mentioning that name again. Jervis, Jervis, Jervis Tetch. The name still wasn't familiar.

Jonathan sighed, unpacking his bag after settling down in the nearest, empty seat, pulling out his sketchbook and a few pencils to quietly flick through the pages. Scarecrow, Scarecrow, the odd raven or crow, the things he sees- That was what the book was filled with.

“Stupid magic boy Tetch, stupid bowtie idiot…”

Jonahtan paused with the muttering from the odd boy besides him.

Black hair scooped in front of his eyes in a bird-like swoop - His face was distinctively covered by makeup and an amount of eyeliner that almost made him look like someone who hasn't slept for a week. His nose was oddly hooked, and he looked much more annoyed than most people in the room. He was digging his pen into his paper, which was refusing to bring ink, dressed in a full, slightly oversized suit. It still looked like a lot of care was put into his outfit, regardless of the size difference compared to the smaller boy.

Penguin, he recalls his name being. Or was it Penny..? He’s new, that's the most he knows. Started around a month ago, maybe more, Jonathan himself doesn't turn up to school very often. But what really interested him was the fact he wasn't singing the praises of this ‘Jervis’... Was he unaffected by the summer heat, or whatever was causing this?

“Why don’t you like Jervis?” Jonathan managed to mumble out to the bird-like boy, furrowing his brows to flip a page and start absently scribbling down a crow. Penguin flinched at the question, flicking blue eyes towards Jervis for a short moment. 

“Why do you care? Doesn’t matter, everyone looooves the tophat wearing nerd. He’s the absolute best, oh how disgusting.” A scowl formed onto the boys features, mumbling to glare at the page with a tear through the harsh scribbles he was abusing into the paper.

Tophat, though? Sounds vaguely familiar, he thinks there’s a boy in a tophat in Psychology, maybe biology?... He didn’t seem that popular, to be honest. What changed overnight?

“I don’t know who he is.” Jonathan admitted in a small voice, shaking his head with a nervous itch to brush his fingers through his hair. “Everyone’s talking ab-about him, though, I-... I don’t really get it.”

Penguin turned to face him now at this, moving to grab Jonathan’s jaw and look him over. His heart jumped in panic through the touch, cringing to cover the syringe marks in his throat before the smaller boy caught sight of them. Jonathan trembled in the touch, a confused lul washing over him in a way he felt like he could pass out; but he wouldn’t. He couldn't.

“...Mrph, he didn't get to you.” Penguin then sighed out, shoulders slumping with a relieved wash running through him. He pulled his hand back, thankfully, to absently mess around with his own notebook. “It’s just-- Ugh! Everyone’s acting so weird, Jervis this, Tetch that! Something is fishy, magic or witches or something, Magic Boy- He’s not popular, but now everyone loves him! I was gone one day, and now my best friend left me for that idio-” Oswald flinched with a hiss, tears welling up in frustration in the birds eyes to scrunch some paper up in his hands. Looked like a drawing of some boy in glasses-- Ed, he recalls. He’s in a few of his classes. “Argh, I could just kill that fool!”

Penguin hissed in a tone that almost sounded authentic, and a jump of fear leapt through his chest, which he brushed away. “S...So I’m not the only one who thinks everyone's acting…? Off? Everyone was too distracted to..e..even try take my lunch money. I mean, this isn't...bad? Just...different. I don't like different.” Penguin nodded, brows furrowed while Jonathan meekly tried to get his feelings across, before turning to hold his hand out. Oswald’s hand was shaking a little.

...Not that he could talk, he felt the same. Nervous enough to tremble in his spot, absently biting into the thumb of his left hand; Staring at Oswald’s “I’m Oswald Cobblepot, I’m certain you’ve heard of me, obviously.” The boy rolled his eyes. “What's your name?”

“Oh, uh-” It was at that point that the realisation that he needed to shake Oswald’s hand kicked in, and he quickly moved to take his in a weak grip, not wanting to seem...grabby or anything. His eyes flickered away to avoid looking at him. “Jonathan. J-Jonathan Crane. Who’s the friend you mentioned?...”

“Ed Nygma.” Oswald muttered out with a small flush of his cheeks, which Jonathan didn't completely understand. It was only just visible through the foundation that matted his skin, “He’s my best friend. But he wouldn't even talk to me last night- Or this morning. Whenever I tried, some stupid excuse about Tetch came up. Jervis stole him from me, and I’m going to make him pay.”

Jonathan absently nodded to the response he got from him, tugging his hand away to mess around with drawing. He let Oswald vent and talk about this friend of his-- Friends. They sound nice, but he doesn't need them. Friendship is a falsehood he doesn't want to fall into the trap of, the company of others has always feel uncomfortable, even now with oswald, making conversation was hard enough.

It was lunch time, and all the commotion seemed to follow him, and he found the root to the problem; That was him, he was certain of it. 

Jervis Tetch.

The man did not look like your typical popular persoon; They donned a smart, purple wool suit, three piece with a matching bow tie, as well as… A top hat with an odd card slotted inside of it. His hair was around shoulder length, a deep brown and curled around his face to frame his patchy facial hair that he looked to be trying to grow. Even at this distance he could see his eyes; A very dark brown, almost black, he felt like he could get lost in them in an odd way. He tore his gaze away with a shake of his head to the idea, settling down in his seat with his tray of food; the one he always sits in and-

What.

What was that? 

A heart shaped box was on the table in front of him, donned with an envelope that wrote ‘Jonathan’ in a similar cursive handwriting. He recognised it from the...poems that got left inside his locker. Jonathan glanced around with an anxious fit of his heart-- No one seemed to care about the gesture left on his table, which was odd, and he was certain he could feel a pair of eyes on him. He didn’t dare look for the source, muttering to pull the ribbon from the box, carefully lifting the lid.

Oh. A box of chocolates? They came in odd shapes. Hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades-- Rabbits, tophats, pocket watches… Why would someone leave them here? We’re they for someone else?... He clenched his jaw to quickly close the box, pulling the ribbon carefully back on, and sliding it into his bag for later, biting his lip through the flush of his cheeks.

He then took the care to open the letter, pulling out the letter - Which was on some fancy printed paper, similarly with the same theme as the chocolates, and as he expected, a poem was listed through the lines, and he quickly closed it under the worry of being judged. He slid it back into it’s envelope and rushed to the bathroom to properly read the poem.

Jervis watched him leave.


End file.
